


The Confounding Case of Gilear Faeth

by QZB



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Noir, Detective Noir, Gilear dies in this one sorry gang, Riz Gukgak but if he was actually a private detective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:06:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28303536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QZB/pseuds/QZB
Summary: Gilear Faeth dies on a Sunday morning and by Monday Riz Gukgak, private detective, is running out of leads and patience.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18
Collections: Dimension 20 Big Bang





	The Confounding Case of Gilear Faeth

**Author's Note:**

> cw: Hilear actually dies. I'm not sure how much more clear I can be about this but uhhhh. He dies. Kicks the bucket. Pushes daisies. Fails his death saving throws. 
> 
> Just y'know be prepared for slightly graphic descriptions of the fact the he is very dead.

The skies over Elmville are gloomy when Riz receives an emergency message from Fabian Aramais Seacaster. Whether the skies are gloomy because Elmville seems perpetually gloomy these days or because rain was on the horizon he can't really tell.

A storm was brewing somewhere off the coast, if the message from Fabian was any indication.

5:47 am

From: Fabian Aramais Seacaster

Come over ASAP!!!!

To be fair, with Fabian that message could literally mean anything. Maybe Riz is going to be running after his friends causing chaos or beating up bad guys. Maybe Fabian wants to rob a bank. Maybe Fabian is just having what he calls  _ a time _ and wants to watch Real Housewives of Bastion City all day.

5:49 am

From: Fabian Aramais Seacaster

Crime happened, SERIOUSLY GET HERE!

The follow up message is  _ much _ more Riz's style. 

Riz Gukgak, private detective, arrives at Seacaster Manor at 6:20 in the morning, and by 6:25, he's already dreading having taken this job. Although, technically no money has changed hands and he hasn't signed a contract so he isn't technically  _ on the job _ . But Gilear Faeth is dead, and Riz has always been bad at saying no to Fabian.

"I just— I just don't know what happened. I was out for my morning jog and when I got back, I heard this awful awful noise like metal scraping against metal, and then when I ran out here, he was just… laying there." Fabian recounts his morning, wrapped in a blanket with his head resting on his mother's shoulder as she cries silently in that creepy way that elves do.

"What time did you get back from your run?" Riz asks softly, scribbling in his notepad.

"5:45 I think? Only a few minutes before I texted you."

"Did either of you notice anything strange around the house yesterday or last night? Any weird noises? Cars out front?"

Hallariel shakes her head, "I was having some work done on the kitchen, so we had people in and out all day. I wouldn't have noticed anything weird."

"Who was doing the work?"

"Your friend Gorgug and a few of his guys, I'm sure you could ask him about it."

Riz nods, scribbling down in the notepad, "Do you mind if I take a look around?"

Hallariel makes a dismissive motion, "Please just find the foul person who did this to my poor Gilear."

The medical examiner, Kristen, gestures for Riz to come over from behind Fabian. He puts a soft hand on Fabian's shoulder as he gets up. "I'll figure out what happened to Gilear, don't worry."

Riz slides around the couch, going into the main foyer where Gilear Faeth is laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

He lets out a low whistle as Kristen hands him a pair of latex gloves. "Sorry for dragging you out of bed so early this morning, Kristen."

She chuckles dryly as she kneels next to the body. "Kinda what I signed up for when I told you to call me anytime, wasn't it? Take a look at his hands first."

Riz picks up Gilear’s right hand, still somewhat warm, and rotates it a few times in his gloved hands. "He's got all his fingers accounted for, what's the fuss about?"

Kristen sighs, the sigh of a person long acquainted with Riz Gukgak, and takes the hand from the goblin. "Look under his fingernails, look at that residue. If I had to guess I’d say somewhere up there," she points towards the top of the stairs, "you'll find fingernail scratches. That'll be your crime scene, not down here."

"Kristen Applebees-O'Shaunessey, you're a genius."

A small smile breaks across the medical examiner’s face. "Yeah yeah, don't we all know it."

"So how'd he die? I don't see any gunshots or stab wounds."

Kristen sighs, moving Gilear's head softly so Riz can see the back of it, bashed in from the assumed fall down the stairs. "For now, I have to assume blunt force trauma due to a nasty fall or some object hitting the back of his head. I'll know more when I put the skull back together in a bit."

A choked sob from the living room reminds both that they're still in the home of the deceased and that these are not the kinds of conversations families need to hear. Riz removes the gloves and pats Kristen on the shoulder. "I'll check in with you later today. Get him out of here."

Riz turns partially towards the couch, where Fabian is consoling his sobbing mother. "Hey, Fabian, can I take a look around upstairs?"

Fabian nods and Riz makes his way up the grand staircase in the center of Seacaster manor.

At the top of the stairs he pulls out his trusty magnifying glass and gets to work. He catalogs scratch marks on the wall, taking a picture and scraping some paint flecks into a bag. Standing on his tiptoes he searches the banister for any sign of foul play, pulling experimentally on the thing to see if it wobbles.

He examines the top of the banister closely, searching for fingerprints. He pulls a smudged set that’s probably Gilear’s, tries to get a clean sample for Fabian and Hallariel for comparison.

He peaks over the bannister carefully, can’t immediately see anything that’s fallen or out of place, so he has to assume Gilear was empty handed during his tumble.

As he examines the bannister he kicks experimentally around the base of the stair runner, trying to see if his foot catches. The rug is secured well, never catching. He grabs a corner of it and pulls up, revealing a small string of scorch marks on the wood underneath. Strange. He bends down, running his fingers and feeling the slightest bit of warmth from the marks.  _ Probably fresh. Weird. _

He takes photos of his findings around the rug and it’s while he’s doing so that he sees  **_it._ **

**_It_ ** being a small symbol, well hidden and tucked near the first step, obscured slightly by the rug, in the shape of a familiar pentagram-adjacent shape. He really should just ask Fig what this is called because it’s kinda a pentagram but not? It’s whatever Bill Seacaster’s demonified version of a pentagram is.

This  _ was _ Bill Seacasters house previously so it’d make sense that there are lingering… traces of him but this seems a little on the nose for the fact that Bill’s wife’s new lover ended up dead on these very stairs this morning. 

He documents it, resolves to find out what remnants of Bill Seacaster’s gang still remain, it’s a lead if nothing else.

Overall, he’s found less than he wanted at this scene, he thinks to himself as he walks down the stairs and reemerges into the parlor where he left Hallariel and Fabian.

Outside, he notes with a sort of grim amusement, it’s started to rain and the whole house is being blanketed into the cool darkness of an early morning shower. 

_ Fitting, considering the circumstances. _

With a final nod to Kristen and a whispered goodbye to Hallariel, Riz Gukgak, private detective, heads into the chilly morning rain to solve a murder.

—

Adaine Abernant is perched on his desk waiting for him when he returns to his office from Seacaster Manor. 

"Heard about Gilear, tough break man, I really thought he was starting to get it together."

"How did you—? It hasn't even hit the news yet."

Adaine's eyes go white for a moment, her hair fluttering back as though a fan is directly on her even though there's no air movement in the room. "I have my ways, Riz Gukgak."

Riz waves a hand dismissively as he starts the coffee maker. "Sorry, psychic, yeah. It's been a long morning already."

Adaine's eyes fade back to normal and she picks up a newspaper and tosses it at him. "There's something bigger than Gilear going on, Riz, I don't like it."

He catches the newspaper, unfurling it on his desk. In the crossword section, Adaine has written in bold blocky letters **FOUR DAYS** .

He looks over at the elf in confusion "What the fuck does this mean?"

Adaine shrugs. "I don't know, it just came to me. But it doesn't sound  _ great _ ."

"No shit, what's supposed to happen in four days?" Riz replies, wracking his brain before picking up his office phone and getting ready to dial.

"No clue, and she's not going to answer by the way."

He pauses mid-dial. "Who won't answer?"

"Fig. You're calling Fig and she's been working in Hell all week. She won't be back on this plane of existence until later tonight."

He finishes dialing the number and calls anyway, just because there's a chance.

The phone rings and rings and rings and Adaine Abernant has an insufferable grin on her face as she picks at a nail.

Eventually, he gives up, putting the phone down with a defeated  _ click _ . "I've changed my mind. I don't want your help anymore, psychics are dumb."

Adaine's twinkling laughter echoes around the office, "Well shit, what am I supposed to do for employment now?"

"Work at Aelwyn's bar."

Adaine snaps her fingers, pointing at Riz excitedly. "Aelwyn's bar! Fig sings at Aelwyn's for the rest of this month. Go see her there! You're not gonna catch her otherwise."

Riz sighs, checking his watch "It's only noon. She probably doesn't go on until 8 tonight. That leaves us with a lot of hours in the day before we inform someone of her dad's murder."

"She's been sorting souls all week, she knows he's dead."

"Gilear wouldn't go to-" Riz drops his voice to a whisper, "Hell! He was a good guy!"

Adaine shrugs. "Lots of souls get incorrectly sorted on the first try, she sends 'em up to the light all the time. You honestly think Gilear got right where he needed to be in the afterlife?"

Riz considers the life of Gilear Faeth and shakes his head.

"Thought so. Now what do we have for physical evidence from the scene?"

Riz rolls a clean cork board into the center of the room and begins the process of building a case.

—

Four house later phone rings.

"Riz Gukgak, private detective. How can I help you?"

"You always sound so angry over the phone Riz, why is that?"

Riz lunges forward, grabbing a pen and notepad, "Tracker! Hey great to hear from you. What news do you bring from the morgue?"

"Kristen is still working on reconstructing the skull but we're confident in quite a few things. Come down to the morgue, it's...weird to say the least."

"Adaine and I will be there in ten." 

—

Walking the few blocks from his rundown office to the city morgue is never a pleasant experience. You pass by an Elmville municipal maintenance depot that always had at least two trash trucks sitting outside of it, an abandoned office building, a park that nobody cares about anymore, and a gothic church. Needless to say, Riz hates the journey and the destination. 

The setting is made even more somber by the drizzly rain that’s refused to stop even though it’s nearing noon. The sun hangs high in the sky, but its warmth doesn’t make it down to them. If Riz was more into metaphors or literary devices he’d probably make more of a deal about how the whole thing was damn near poetic.

Too bad Riz doesn’t really give a shit about literary devices and actually wait a second why does his internal monologue sound like this? He makes a mental note to reread a Raymond Chandler book or two to get his internal monologue to sound more detective-y.

That’s all not important, but he’s spacing out walking down the street in silence and there’s not a lot else to think about right now.

Few things unsettle Riz Gukgak anymore. He's seen shit that would make grown men cry, he's killed monsters bigger than buildings, he's been through Hell and back, literally.

But the city morgue is just  _ creepy. _

He holds the door for Adaine to enter first, taking in one final gulp of clean air before he walks into the squat building. 

Adaine is speaking with Zayn from the front desk, getting them visitor passes and access to the elevators that will take them down to Kristen's lab, so Riz takes a cursory look around the place. The magazines on the coffee table in the waiting area are hopelessly outdated. He picks up one and the cover literally disintegrates into dust in his hand.

The plume of smoke causes him to cough, doubling over due to dust and the chemical smell within the building. Magazines are dumb. Morgues are dumb. He should've just made Tracker give him the report over the phone.

"I mean, it's not like anyone reads these anyway." Adaine says, completely taking him by surprise.

He jumps, "Jesus, Adaine warn a guy next time." 

She shrugs, handing him out a visitor badge on a lanyard, "Kristen's lab is on the bottom floor. You ready?"

They head to the elevator as Zayn from the front desk gives them a final friendly wave, "Stop by anytime Adaine!"

Adaine waves back as the elevator door closes, then slumps to the side, resting her head on the cool metal.

"You know he's trying to flirt with you right?"

"Yep."

"And you're just going to...?"

"Ignore it probably."

"Ya wanna talk about it?"

Adaine snorts, "With you? Never."

The elevator dings and they arrive on the bottom floor.

"Look alive Adaine, this one is pretty gruesome."

Adaine pushes herself off the wall as Kristen waves from inside the lab.

Tracker's head pokes out from the hall, "Hey guys!"

She hands them both gloves and a mask, "You're gonna want these, it smells pretty bad in there."

Riz pulls them on with a grumble, wondering when it ever smells good in a morgue.

"Kristen is still working on the head and getting it reconstructed and scanned in, so we can do some analysis there but here's the report of everything we've found thus far." Tracker begins walking them in to view the body of Gilear Faeth.

Adaine shakes her head, "poor guy."

"He's in okay shape for his age. Nothing to suggest a natural cause of death, obviously. Pay attention to his hands, we found some blood residue as well as paint chips that match what Riz found at the scene."

"The top of the stairs. I need to put that on the board back at the office." Riz makes the mental note for himself.

"Yeah, I'm not a detective, but it's safe to assume he tried to grab the wall for some sort of purchase before falling."

"Sad way to die." 

"It's Gilear, did you expect anything else?" Tracker raises an eyebrow.

"What else is there?"

"Some weird bruising on his back and arms that was from about three hours before death. Not sure what's going on there but you're the detectives, not me."

Riz scribbles down in his notebook  _ pre-mortem bruising, paint chips under fingernails, blood under fingernails (whose??). _

"Cause of death is blunt force trauma to the back of the head, likely the result of falling down the stairs. We can't completely rule out an object to the head until Kristen is done with the reconstruction."

"Whose blood is under his fingernails?"

"Initial findings suggest female."

Adaine's eyebrows skyrocket. "Gilear, Gilear, you naughty boy."

"Please don't say things like that." Riz mumbles, walking around the body. "Time of death officially 5:45-ish?"

Tracker nods. 

Riz turns to Adaine, "So, who could gain access to Seacaster Manor that early in the morning and get out without Fabian noticing?"

Adaine pulls her crystal out of her pocket. "Hallariel mentioned they were having some renovations done on the kitchen, so I'm going to look into that further. In the meantime, you should probably get over the Aelwyn's club, it's almost time for Fig to go on."

Riz nods, "Thanks for letting us stop by and thank you so much for this," he taps the folder with the report inside "When you have a conclusive cause of death or a murder weapon let me know, okay?"

"And don't let Kristen work too hard, you know how she is!" Adaine calls as they exit.

Tracker beams as she escorts them out of the lab, "Trust me, she's taking me out tonight whether she knows it or not."

—

The high windows and towering metal spire of Thistlespring Inventions has always slightly intimidated Adaine. It’s just so  _ big _ and precarious in a way that it looks like it could all come crashing down in an instant if anyone leaned on a wall too hard. Deep down, she knows that Gorgug has built this place to be nearly invincible, it has to keep up with him and his employees after all, but it’s still just a little off-putting.

The bell chimes lightly overhead as she enters the front door. 

“Hey! I’ll be out in just a minute!” Gorgug’s voice yells from a room just out of sight, followed by the last hammering of metal and a soft  _ clang _ as tools are set down. Adaine makes herself comfortable on the high counter, picking up a small wind-up toy to occupy her hands while she waits.

It takes a minute, Adaine can hear a dull  _ thud _ as Gorgug stifles a yelp of pain before he emerges into the front office. 

His bright eyes light up as he scoops her into a large hug, lifting her off the counter and setting her back down. “Hey, you! What are you doing here? Need a new tank for Boggy? I think I still have the schematics from the old one around here somewhere.”

Adaine puts a soft hand on Gorgug’s arm, stopping him from getting lost back into the storeroom to dig up the plans. “Business actually. Detective stuff. Do you have a more comfortable place to talk?”

“Yeah, of course, come on back.” Gorgug opens a small passageway through the counter and she follows him back into the winding hallways of Thistlesprings. They meander through the hall, past rooms full of steam, an indoor pool where two gnomes are trying to construct a small boat, and a computer lab where a programmer is talking impassionedly to a duck. Adaine is thoroughly turned around by the time they reach a heavy bronze door with  _ Gorgug _ emblazoned on it in gold. Gorgug pulls the door open, allowing her to enter the office first.

Adaine sits on a comfy red chair before steeling herself for what is sure to be a very difficult conversation. She hates it when it turns out like this when she needs information from her friends. Like come on, this is Gorgug of all people. He built a tank for Boggy last year just so her familiar could feel more like a frog. They do brunch every other Sunday at Fig and Ayda’s apartment. This feels wrong.

“So, what’s up?”

“Gilear is dead.”

“Oh shit.” 

Adaine takes a moment to study his body language. His shoulders have fallen, his eyes scrunched up in that way that they do when he’s confused and not sure how to feel. He’s sad. It’s almost a relief to see her friend sad.  _ Gods, she fucking hates this job sometimes. _

“He uh… how’d he die?”

“He was pushed down the stairs at Seacaster Manor.”

Gorgug nods as he puts the pieces together. “We were doing work there this weekend, you want to know if we saw anything and who was there.”

A quick nod is all it takes to set Gorgug off looking for the paperwork.

“So, we were there redoing the kitchen as well as some basic electric wiring,” Gorgug says as his head dives into a filing cabinet. “It was me and two other guys, Jem Peppercorn and Tony Glitterdew.”

“Glitterdew… any relation to everyone's least favorite wannabe gangster Biz Glitterdew?” Adaine muses.

Gorgug nods grimly as he pulls two sheets out of the cabinet. “Biz is his big brother. Tony is a good kid though, fantastic electrician.”

Adaine takes the pages, committing the men’s contact info and addresses to memory. “What’s your read on the other one? Think he’d have any useful info?”

“Jem is a tiny guy, he was up in and around the walls all day, I hardly saw the poor guy.”

Adaine levels her gaze back to Gorgug. “What about you? See or hear anything weird while you were there on Thursday afternoon?”

Gorgug gathers his thoughts for a long moment before speaking. “Seacaster Manor is already so weird. Gilear was with Hallariel the whole day, doing their weird pet thing. I honestly don’t wanna think about it. The things I heard were-” he suppresses a shudder, “awful.”

“Did you see anything?”

Gorgug shakes his head, “We were inside trying to get it all done before the weekend. We were gonna head back today to finish up but we didn’t leave much time for anything else.”

_ Great, a dead end. _ Adaine thinks for a moment before musing out loud, “Do you know if the Seacasters have security cameras? Anything else that could get us footage from that day?”

Gorgug lets out a sigh, “Seacaster’s don’t have security cameras, they’re Seacaster’s! Who would be crazy enough to rob them?”

"Shit."

Gorgug thinks for a second longer. "But I might have something. I keep a camera on the van if we leave it open, if anything moved it might have picked something up. Let me get you the footage."

He gets up and crosses the room, going into the hallway while Adaine waits patiently in the room. He’s back a few minutes later with a cd.

“This is all the footage from the camera on the back of my truck. I’m not sure if it’ll be useful but that’s what I got.”

Adaine crosses the room to give him a hug. “Wonderful, thank you Gorgug. We might get together soon for Fig, she shouldn’t have to plan a funeral alone.”

“Let me know, I’ll be there.”

—

As Riz Gukgak walks into  _ Abernant's _ the first thing he hears is the telltale sign of doing business with Aelwyn Abernant.

"You absolute bitch!"

It's almost nice that some things never change— his tie is always crooked, the sky is always blue, and Aelwyn Abernant is always a bit of a bitch.

"Now you listen up Glitterdew! I allow you to come in here and act like a fucking two-bit gangster, the least you can do is not threaten my wife. So you either apologize or get out. Now."

Biz Glitterdew wipes his brow before turning to where Sam Nightingale is sitting on the bar, legs crossed and a deliberately blank expression on her face. He clears his throat before saying, "I'm sorry, Miss Nightingale, my intention wasn't to threaten you, I didn't realize who I was talking to."

There's a tense moment where Sam arches an eyebrow and Biz tugs on his shirt collar. She turns to Aelwyn, "He's apologizing to me now, but what are the odds he's done this to other girls in other clubs and gotten away with it?"

Aelwyn shrugs, "Pretty high." 

With that, she throws a green arc of arcane energy into the room and Biz Glitterdew simply vanishes.

The club, which was in a state of scared silence before, comes back to life, with drinks being refilled and the announcement that the singer will be back on stage in 10 minutes.

Riz makes his way through the crowd sitting at the far end of the bar, near Sam's place of honor. She smiles and gives him a hug as he approaches.

"Riz! So good to see you! I don't know if I ever properly thanked you for handling that thing for Penny. She's much happier now that her shop isn't being threatened by those thugs anymore."

Aelwyn makes her way over from behind the bar, sliding Sam a refill with a wink and putting a napkin in front of Riz. "I don't like detectives in my bar, Gukgak."

"I don't like being in your bar, Abernant. Looks like we're both just unhappy people. I'll take a club soda, I'm on the clock."

Aelwyn cracks a small grin at his comeback. They get along in that unique way that club owners and private detectives do, they both needed something and knew that letting the other go with the secrets they carried would be bad for business. 

Aelwyn slides over the drink before leaning in closer. "What do you need, Gukgak? Make it quick, you're bringing down the property value."

"Gilear Faeth. Know anything about him?"

"He's Fig's dad, terrible taste in fashion, and has a weird obsession with yogurt. He's been in a few times recently to watch her sing but not in the last few days or so. Why?"

"He's dead."

Aelwyn stops wiping down the bar for a moment, then resumes slowly. "Does Fig know yet?"

"Maybe, she was working at her  _ side job _ today so she might've seen him. If she hasn't, I'm here to let her know."

The noise of the crowd around them quiets as Fig Faeth steps into the raised stage in the center of the room and begins to sing. Aelwyn picks up a glass to clean, "Looks like you'll have to wait until she's done with her set. Sam will show you back when she's done."

Riz slides a crisp bill across the bar top, "I appreciate your discretion Aelwyn."

Aelwyn grabs the bill off the counter, sliding it into her bra for safekeeping. She snorts as she responds, "Discretion is hardly my strong suit but whatever Gukgak, you won't hear a peep from me."

Riz holds up a finger and Aelwyn sighs before continuing. "Unless I know anything, I know the drill."

Riz nods politely at Aelwyn and Sam before grabbing the soda and heading to the center of the club to grab a table to let the smooth voice of Fig Faeth, singer, daughter, and murder suspect, wash over him.

—

If Fig weaves magic into her voice through song, then she also has a sort of magic to her when she cries. As soon as Riz enters her dressing room she is crying and saying  _ I know Riz, I know he's gone. _

And Riz can't just be a detective at this moment so he holds his best friend as she cries and he promises vengeance and peace and sometimes that's all you can do.

The tears stop eventually and the mask that all performers have slips back on as she straightens up.

"What do you need me to do?" She asks, a fire in her eyes.

"Just answer a few questions. I take it you had contact with Gilear today?"

She scoffs, "Do you really think he would get sorted correctly on the first try?"

"A guy can dream. Did you talk with him about his fall? Did he have any good info?"

Fig raises an eyebrow "Are you asking me to talk to a dead man about solving his own murder?"

"It's worth a shot," Riz shrugs, "did you get to talk with him about it at all?"

"No, he was busy being full of regrets about how he left things with Fabian and I blah blah blah you know how he is."

Riz perks up, "Fabian? What did he say about Fabian?"

She waves a hand dismissively and explains, "Gilear and Fabian had some argument earlier this week, nasty apparently, Fabian stormed out and they hadn't spoken since."

"Hmm."

Figs eyes alight with mischievous glee. "Oh he didn't mention that did he?"

"Shut up Fig."

"Do you have any other questions?" Fig sighs as she sits back and lights a cigarette.

"Those things'll kill ya someday."

"So will my day job."

"Being a singer that dangerous?"

"I mean my other day job, detective."

Riz raises out of his seat, removing his hat to fix his hair before giving Fig a quick hug and heading back into the club. "If you remember anything else, call me."

— 

The next morning Riz wakes up with a ringing in his ears and a bunch of clues that don’t make sense. The ringing turns out not to just be in his ears but his phone on the nightstand, ringing incessantly.

“Can nobody in this town contact me at a normal hour of the day?” He grumbles before answering the phone, “Gukgak speaking.”

A sigh from the other end of the line clues him in on the caller, “Riz, you make it really hard not to bully you, you know that right?” Aelwyn Abernant says, sounding bored as ever.

“What do you need Aelwyn? What was so important you had to call me so early?”

“First, it’s nine am which is hardly early. Second, when Sam and I were cleaning up last night we found a weird receipt with Gilear’s signature on it.”

“What was the receipt for?”

There’s the sounds of some shuffling as Aelwyn moves around her apartment. She returns a moment later, “Some place called Popper’s, it was handwritten and doesn’t say what it’s for, just that it was quite expensive and is supposed to be delivered to some address two days from now on Wednesday.”

Riz hustles to grab a notebook to jot it all down. “What’s the address?”

“503 Fireball Court. Just come by and get the receipt if you want the rest of it okay? It’ll be at my place, Adaine has a key.”

“Sure sure, thanks Aelwyn.”

“Whatever, Gukgak.”

503 Fireball Court. Why does that address sound familiar to him? Riz mulls it over as he showers and dresses for the day, stopping his contemplation only to make sure his arquebus is cleaned and loaded.

It’s time to do some breaking and entering. If only his dad could see him now, committing crimes for good, solving mysteries, and putting away bad guys.

He’d be proud.

—

Elmville has an incredible ability to feel like the whole city hates you for no particular reason. The mismatched architecture, the insane headmasters, and roving bands of adventuring students all make Elmville an interesting place but sometimes the whole city has this aura to it. Like the city itself doesn’t want you here and it makes sure that you’re absolutely aware of the fact.

It’s a fact Riz contends with often, usually while picking his way through back alleys filled with garbage to take pictures of cheating spouses or dirty business partners, but especially on this weary Monday morning under the drizzling rain as he treks through the rain towards Fireball Court.

503 Fireball Court is in the warehouse district of Elmville, allowing Riz to blend in with various warehouse and dock workers as he approaches the building. 

There’s no lights on inside and when Riz peers through a window around the back he doesn’t see any movement. Taking a final glance around his surroundings he slides a set of lockpicks out of his jacket, getting started on unlocking the door.

“You know, there’s a door over there that’s unlocked.” Adaine’s voice over his left shoulder makes him jump, scattering his tools all over the ground.

“Jesus, Adaine!”

“Sorry.” The psychic says sheepishly.

“No you’re not.” The detective counters.

Adaine smiles, “No, I’m not. You were about to investigate a creepy warehouse without me, you deserve to be spooked.”

Riz collects his tools, and his dignity, from the ground, sliding them back into his jacket before gesturing to the loading docks near Adaine. “Sorry I forgot to call, I got distracted by the mystery of it all.”

Adaine tries the first few doors with no luck and frowns as she mumbles. “I just happened to swing by Aelwyn’s for breakfast and she gave me the receipt. Fate is funny like that. Riz I don’t think any of these doors are open but I am certain one of them should be. There’s a way in over here, I just know it.”

Riz grabs the garage door and lifts it slightly off the ground, back straining with effort. “Found it.” 

Adaine slides under the door quickly to grab it from the other side and the detective scrambles in just before the door drops.

“Are you trying to kill me this morning?”

Adaine pulls out her orb and imbues it with light, illuminating the dark interior of the warehouse, “I’m a psychic Riz, not a bodybuilder.”

Adaine’s light illuminates part of the warehouse which is full of… nothing. The floor of the warehouse is completely empty of anything. 

“There has to be something we’re missing here.” Adaine muses as she sets the orb in the center of the room and increases the brightness. Her voice echoes softly off the metal rafters.

A small office is set apart from the main floor and Riz makes his way in. An empty filing cabinet, a decrepit office chair, and a metal desk are all that fill the room. It’s honestly more well decorated than his current private detective office, at least this place has a dead plant in one corner showing that someone tried once. His office just has old cups of coffee and a chair that squeaks when you lean back too far. Rummaging through the desk he finds a few pens, a stack of red post-it notes, and an old shipping manifest. 

Skimming down the manifest Riz notes normal business. Elmville Consolidated Shipping, Thistlespring Inventions, and a few others that he recognizes all have shipped out of this warehouse owned by...

“Adaine get in here!” Riz yells excitedly, “I think I found something!”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember when Gorthalax was in the gem-”

“Which time?” She asks as she pokes her head in the door.

“Second… or was it third… maybe fourth now that I’m thinking about it? Doesn’t matter. Do you remember what company credit card Fig was using during that time. She said it was from Gorthalax.”

“Yeah it was some dumb name for a company. Very reductive and modernist.” She snaps her fingers a few times, trying to summon the name out of thin air.

“The Red Company.”

“Yeah that’s it!”

“Guess whose warehouse this is?”

Adaine lunges forward and grabs the shipping manifest from Riz’s hands, “No way! What is Gilear doing getting something delivered here? They’re not exactly on friendly terms.”

“They’re cordial for Fig’s sake but yeah… those two have never seen eye to eye.” Riz muses, pacing around the room. “I think it’s time I pay a visit to Gorthalax the Insatiable.”

Adaine runs back into the main room, “Before you do, I have something you should see.”

The room still stands empty when Riz joins her but as she begins to say in incantation a large object covered with a sheet appears.

“What the fuck is this?”

“It was cloaked by magic, which is why we didn’t see it when we first came in.”

Riz ducks under the sheet and pulls it off, revealing a shining red motorcycle.

Adaine is the first to break their dumbstruck silence, “So what the fuck is that doing here?”

Riz sighs, “I have no goddamn idea.”

—

“Okay we need to evaluate what we have, because none of this makes any sense.” Riz says to the ceiling, laying on the ground of his office in defeat. He can hear Adaine pacing around above his head as she sighs.

“Gilear Feath died after falling down the stairs of Seacaster Manor at about 5:45 am on Sunday morning. He was found by Fabian, who was just coming in from a morning jog.”

“Fabian and Gilear had apparently had an argument recently and weren’t speaking from what Fig told me.” Riz interrupts. Adaine makes a vague noise of agreement and scribbles it down on a piece of paper before adding it to the clue board.

“At Seacaster Manor you found fingernail scratches on the wall and Kristen and Tracker found that same paint residue under his fingernails which means he tried to hold on to the top of the stairs before his ultimate demise. You also found scorch marks on the ground that we’ve thus far been unable to discover the source of. There’s also that weird demonic Bill Seacaster symbol that’s just… weird.” Adaine rattles off. “The footage I got from Gorgug showed Alistair Ash picking up Jem Peppercorn from Seacaster Manor that day, but nothing else suspicious.”

Riz gets up, turning to face the board. “Gilear’s signature was found on a receipt in Aelwyn’s club, for some item to be delivered on Wednesday, to a warehouse owned by The Red Company which in turn is owned by Gorthalax the Insatiable, everybody’s favorite devil daddy. In the warehouse we also found a super expensive motorcycle.”

“Who are our suspects?”

Riz sighs “If I had to make a list I’d say Fabian, Gorthalax, and Bill Seacaster,”

“Bill Seacaster?”

“Through Alistair Ash I mean, we can’t rule out an extreme revenge kill from beyond the grave with Bill.”

Adaine spins in her chair once, twice, three times before speaking up. “I think we need to talk to Gorthalax. His warehouse and that receipt are the only clues we have to go off of that make any sense.”

“Divide and conquer?” Riz suggests.

“I’ll find out what I can about the receipt while you talk to Gorthalax.”

As if on cue Riz’s stomach growls, “lunch first?”

Adaine checks the clock, “Wanna invite Gorgug? He might know more about that motorcycle. Two birds, one stone and all that.”

Riz shrugs on his coat, “As long as I can eat one of the birds when we’re done, that’s fine by me.”

“Jesus man, that’s dark.”

“I’m a goblin, it happens.”

—

Gorgug whistles under his breath at the photo Adaine slides him over the cheap diner table, “That’s a nice bike.”

Riz takes a break from his burger to ask, “Seen anything like it before?”

Gorgug squints closer at the photo, “I’d have to see it in person to see but… honestly? It kinda looks like The Hangman.”

Adaine shoots Riz a pointed look, “The Hangman? Fabian’s bike? How can you tell?”

Gorgug puts the picture in the middle of the table, “It’s not exactly the same but you know where The Hangman has the whole skull and face and stuff?” At a nod from the others he continues, “So this bike doesn’t have that but the bones are somewhat similar. It’s like if you took everything that makes The Hangman out of The Hangman.”

“So you’re saying this bike is what, a wannabe Hangman?”

“This bike is what The Hangman was before it was The Hangman, before the hellhound got put into it. Like the bones are the same, and if someone wanted to make another one of those bikes this would be the perfect thing to do it with.”

Riz jots it down on a napkin, shoving it into his jacket pocket to put back on the board in the office.

“Gorgug one other question, do you know why Jem Peppercorn got picked up by Alistair Ash from your job site at Seacaster Manor?”

“They’re dating. I don’t like Alistair because of the whole…” Gorgug trails off, remembering Leviathan and the subsequent flight through hell, “everything. But he and Jem are happy so I don’t question it.”

The table falls into silence as the detective mulls over his thoughts of the past while the psychic is plagued with new visions of the future. Gorgug is just happy to hang out with his friends again.

—

_ Abernant’s _ is quiet when Riz walks in for the second time in as many days. It’s later in the evening, with only a small crowd of regulars in the bar on Monday night. Sam greets him from behind the bar with a smile.

“Hey Riz. What can I get ya?

“Just a club soda, I’m here on business.”

The water genasi rolls her eyes good naturedly, “When are you never not on business?”

“When people stop dying and cheating I’ll let you know, I’m a real fun guy when I’m not on the clock.”

“Oh trust me, I know, Little Shrimp.”

Riz’s eyes narrow at the laughing woman as Aelwyn emerges from the back room, followed by a sleazy looking tiefling in a suit.

Aelwyn shoos him away with a dismissive hand and a shout. “If he wants to do business he can do it himself, I don’t wanna deal with another errand boy trying to prove himself.”

The tiefling flips Aelwyn off before exiting the bar. Aelwyn deposits herself in a stool behind the bar as Sam hands her a stiff drink. 

For a moment Riz doesn’t think Aelwyn’s noticed him but that hope is soon dashed as she speaks up. “Gukgak. Why are you disgracing my bar again so soon?”

“Why are you making deals with two bit mobsters?” Riz counters.

“Why don’t both of you head to the back room so you don’t disturb our paying patrons with your bickering?” Sam suggests with a pointed glare.

Aelwyn kisses her wife on the cheek before gesturing back to the room she just emerged from. “Great idea, come on Gukgak.”

“Who the fuck was that I just saw leaving?” Riz asks as soon as the door separating the back office from the rest of the bar was closed.

“That was apparently the best Gorthalax will send to deal with me. A fucking disgrace if you ask me.”

“You have a deal with Gorthalax?”

Aelwyn’s eyes narrow, “Since when are you interested in the deals I have with other perfectly legitimate businessmen?”

“Since those perfectly legitimate businessmen own the warehouse that a dead man was having something delivered to.”

Aelwyn’s eyebrows skyrocket. “Gilear was making a deal with Gorthalax? I have to say that’s an unlikely pair.”

Riz tosses his hat on the table before sitting down. “My thoughts exactly. What business would those two have together? Actually the first question I have is what business do you have with Gorthalax?”

Aelwyn sighs. “I get potion ingredients delivered here, he buys in bulk, nothing terrible.”

“What kind of potion ingredients?”

“The kind of ingredients you don’t find at your local apothecary. What does this have to do with Gilear’s muder? My business doesn’t break any laws and you don’t care about the debatably legal eye of newt last I checked.”

Riz aquiests, “You’re right, I don’t care about that. I just want to know where you make your deliveries for Gorthalax and when you’re set to deliver again. He’s a hard man to find.”

“He should be here in about,” Aelwyn checks her watch, bored, “ten minutes or so. I insulted his emissary, he’ll be here to deal with me himself soon.”

Riz jumps out of his seat, “He’s going to deal with you? Like murder you?”

Aelwyn shrugs, “He’ll come in blustering about how I disrespect him and his business, He’ll yell for a few minutes, I’ll disarm him with my charm, then we’ll chat for a bit, strike a deal, he’ll send another knucklehead when it’s time to renew, the cycle repeats blah blah blah.”

As if on cue the front door of the bar slams open and they can hear Sam from the front room yell, “If you break it you buy it!”

In a split second decision Riz Gukgak does what he does best, he gets out of sight. Aelwyn sighs and rolls her eyes as she sits down and kicks her feet up on the table.

Moments later Gorthalax the Insatiable stands in front of Aelwyn, looking every bit the imposing mob boss he is. He pulls out a chair for himself and sits down, removing his hat and jacket. There’s a tense moment of silence before he speaks.

“Aelwyn fuckin’ Abernant how many times do I have to tell you to not make my guys cry?”

Aelwyn shrugs noncommittally, “If your guys insist on being assholes then I am forced to be an asshole and honestly nobody likes it when I’m an asshole. I tend to say mean things.”

Gorthalax shrugs, “Well to be fair, Frederick is an asshole, so I don’t blame you for that one. Unfortunately Frederick also said that you’re refusing to renew the terms of our arrangement, which is a real shame.”

“Well maybe if you had just come down here in the first place we could have kept our arrangement on the same terms, but you had to send second-rate Frederick and now I’m not feeling as generous.”

“I can offer 10% more for each delivery, but that’s it.”

“The conversion rate from Fallinel means I lose 27% of every gold. Now a 10% increase helps, but that still leaves me far from breaking even.” Aelwyn counters, spinning her wand around in her hand absentmindedly. 

Gorthalax is silent as he whips out his crystal, typing for a moment before looking back up to Aelwyn. “25% increase every delivery, 10,000 gold advance for this round.”

Aelwyn leans forward to shake his hand. “I knew you’d see sense Gorthalax. By the way, Riz is here and he has some questions for you, I’ll load the delivery into your car while you boys talk.” She hurries out of the room and the door slams behind her with a sense of finality.

Gorthalax turns and sees Riz for the first time in years. 

Riz smiles. 

Gorthalax stares silently.

The moment stretches into infamy as the detective and the mobster stare each other down.

The silence is broken by Gorthalax as he holds his hands out and roars, “Riz fuckin’ Gukgak! How are ya kid?”

He sweeps Riz into a bone-crushing hug that lasts for uncomfortably long. 

“I’m good, I’m good! Gilear Faeth isn’t though, which is why I need to talk to you.”

Confusion is evident on Gorthalax’s face as he puts Riz down and asks, “Gilear? What happened to Gilear?”

“Well for one thing, he’s dead.”

“Oh shit.”

“For another thing, we found this receipt he paid for a few days before his death. Look familiar to you?”

Riz holds the receipt out, allowing Gorthalax to process it.

“Popper’s? I can’t say I know the place. And I don’t know what’s on Fireball Court, it’s a bunch of old warehouses right?”

Riz pockets the receipt again with a slight smile on his face. “Strange you don’t know the address, considering it’s owned by your company, The Red Company.”

Gorthalax’s face drops. “What are you implying Gukgak?”

“Why is a dead man making deals with a gangster?” Riz whips out his notepad. “I’m being honest with ya, it doesn’t look  _ great _ for you.”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“I’m a detective. I tend to uncover secrets sooner or later so you’re better off just telling me now.”

“Gilear and I were… planning something.”

—

An hour later Riz throws his notepad down in front of Adaine as she sits at his desk.

“Gorthalax and Gilear were planning on throwing Fig a surprise birthday party. That’s it. That’s the  _ whole big secret _ , just a birthday party.” He announces, tossing his hat over on the stand and collapsing in a chair.

“I figured as much. Popper’s was a balloon place. He showed me the arrangement that Gilear had ordered for the party.”

“Was it at least a good one?”

“Actually yeah, a lot of flames and one that looked surprisingly like Baby.”

“So what do we have as far as… evidence, actual detective things?” Riz rises from his chair to pull the cork board of clues out into the center of the room.

“Gilear Faeth died at about 5:40 Sunday morning from falling down the stairs at Seacaster manor. Fabian came home and found him but didn’t see anyone enter or leave the manor besides him.” Adaine reads off the notepad in front of her. “The Seacasters were having some work done on the house by a crew of Gorgug’s containing the late Bill Seacaster’s protege Alistair Ash who claims to have nothing to do with this.”

“I found a weird symbol at the top of the stairs, apparently a holdover from Bill, did we ever figure out what was going on with that?” Riz asks, rearranging the board, particularly the evidence pictures.

Adaine nods. “Yeah I stopped by to drop off the autopsy report to Hallariel, there wasn’t anything inherently magical about it. Peoples houses tend to hold on to parts of them even after they’re gone, I’d guess that since Seacaster manor used to be Bill’s ship that’s doubly true. Prior to Sunday, Gilear and Gorthalax were planning a surprise birthday party for Fig, set to happen on Thursday night.”

Riz nods and continues with the evidence review. “Gilear was fighting with Fabian because he didn’t want him in on the planning of the surprise party, so naturally Fabian thought he was doing something supremely shady and they were arguing.” Riz connects a red string between the pictures of Fabian and Gilear.

“Do you know what I’ve wondered this whole time?”

“What?”

“Do we believe Fabian’s story? Yes Gilear obviously died from a fall down the stairs, but do we have any other physical evidence about whatever sounds Fabian heard or for when he came back to the house?” Adaine muses.

“At the scene I did find some weird stuff at the top of the stairs but nothing that indicated the sort of metallic sound Fabian claims to have heard.” Riz hands Adaine the pictures he took from the crime scene. “I don’t know if anything here would trigger your elf senses but knock yourself out.”

“Don’t goblins have a higher range of hearing than elves do?” Adaine questions as she grabs the photos, flipping through them silently.

“Of course but I don’t see anything there that would make me think of metallic noises.”

“It’s just… awfully convenient that Fabian was just coming back from an insanely early morning run and found him already dead is all I’m saying.”

Riz sighs. “I don’t want to think that way until we don’t have any other options.”

Adaine nods. “Hey did you get a sample of what this weird stain on the top of the stairs was?”

Riz is up in a flash. “Stain?”

“Top of the stairs, on the runner. Look.” She hands him a photo he’d taken earlier and he can now see the faint white stain she’s referring to.

“I didn’t, I can head over there to see if Cathilda knows what it is.”

“You know what it looks like?” Adaine smiles faintly. “It kinda looks like yogurt.”

—

“This might sound like a stupid idea.”

Adaine sighs. “Go on?”

“What if we take Fig to Fireball Court. You said yourself that you almost missed the motorcycle the first time we were there. If they were going to have her birthday party at the warehouse maybe there’s something else there that we can’t see, that only activates when Fig walks in. Surprise, y’know?” Riz puts his hands up in a lackluster show of surprise.

“That’s certainly not… the worst idea. The only reason I could find the bike is because I stubbed my toe on it.”

Twenty minutes later Riz and Adaine are standing outside of 503 Fireball Court, extremely gracious that the drizzling rain has stopped for the time being.

“You always take me to the nicest places Riz.” The cheerful voice of Fig calls out as she approaches with Ayda by her side.

“I’m trying to make up for the time you dragged me to Hell. I’d say I have a while before we’re even.” Riz responds, smiling, as he unlocks the door to the warehouse.

“It’s lovely to see you again Riz Gukgak, my favorite private detective, and Adaine.” Ayda says.

“Aren’t I the only private detective you know?” Riz asks as he holds the door for them to enter.

  
Ayda woops in delight. “That’s the joke Riz!”

Fig and Adaine snicker as the lights in the warehouse flip on at their arrival. 

Riz sighs exaggeratedly. 

“So here’s the warehouse, it’s owned by your dad. They were planning on having a surprise party for your birthday here on Thursday.” Adaine explains as Fig looks around the place.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Could you just… walk around and see if anything happens?” Riz asks.

“That’s hardly an exact science Riz.” Fig says but begins to walk around the warehouse anyway. She notices the motorcycle and makes a beeline towards it. “What’s this?”

“It’s a motorcycle. Probably a birthday present from Gorthalax. Gorgug thinks he planned to make it into something like The Hangman.”

“That’d piss off Fabian so much, I love it.”

Ayda runs her hand against a wall. “Adaine, did you test the walls for imbued magic while you were here?”

Adaine joins her near the wall. “Can’t say I did, care to elaborate?”

“If Gorthalax and Gilear were planning a party they would need some way to keep things like the bike hidden. Since Gorthalax has been… imprisoned so many times in gems his magic is more tied to gems than the usual demons. There may be a gem around here that the surprise party is tied to, rather than just Fig’s presence. Although Fig’s presence is extremely magical.”

Fig beams as Riz scampers back to the office and Adaine claps Ayda on the back. “Ayda, you’re a genius, I didn’t even think of that!”

“How big does the gem need to be, Ayda?” Riz yells from the office where they can all hear sounds of furniture being moved around rapidly.

“Magic doesn’t really have a size limit.”

They make their way to the back office to see Riz tearing a large sign off the wall. 

“Way to not make it one day without major property destruction, Riz.” Fig notes as the three ladies stand in the doorway, watching him struggle.

“You’re all assholes. Ayda, would this gem work?” Riz asks, pointing at the sign that reads  **THE RED COMPANY** in bold letters, with a ruby gemstone adorned underneath.

Ayda gestures for Fig to go closer and when the bard does so the gem explodes with red light. They all look around as elaborate decorations appear on the walls of the warehouse. Fig’s album begins playing in the main room,

“Holy shit.” Riz says.

“Holy shit indeed.” Ayda agrees.

—

At 10:45 Thursday morning Riz Gukgak solves the case.

There’s no big eureka moment.

No fanfare.

He just looks at the case board in front of him and goes “oh shit!”

A frantic call to Kristen at the morgue and he’s in possession of the one piece of evidence he needs.

Another hurried call to Aelwyn later and he’s in  _ Abernant’s _ , pacing as he waits for his friends and family to assemble in the bar.

“Riz if you wear a hole in the floor you’re going to be the one replacing it!” Aelwyn calls out from her perch on the bar.

“If you didn’t want me to be dramatic and detective-y maybe you should’ve told me to find someplace else to do this!” He calls back sarcastically, but does stop his pacing. Really he doesn’t want to give Aelwyn any reason to be upset at him. Logically he knows that she’s chill now and won’t banish him with a flick of her wrist but he knows the Aelwyn who deals with gangsters and he doesn’t want to suffer the same fate as Biz did earlier this week.

“Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t miss this drama for the world!”

Adaine, Kristen, and Gorgug are the first to arrive with Fig and Ayda right behind them. Adaine comes up to him with a questioning gaze as Kristen sets a brown shoebox down on the table in front of them.

“You figured it out?”

“I did.”

“How?”

He waves her off, “I’ll explain it when everyone’s here.”

Hallariel, Sandra Lynn, and Fabian are next to arrive. Sandra Lynn has her arm supportively around Hallariel on one side as Fabian supports her on the other. Hallariel looks tired in a way that seems almost foregin to Riz. He supposes losing two loves will do that to a person— er— elf.

Gorthalax is the last to arrive, nodding at Aelwyn as he takes a seat across the room from everyone else.

Riz clears his throat. “Thank you everyone for coming out. I have come to an official conclusion in the case of Gilear’s death and so I thought it’d be best if I delivered the news to all of you at once.”

“Are you trying to be Sherlock Holmes right now with a parlor room scene and everything? What’s next, calling Adaine Watson?” Fig calls out.

“I call being Moriarty!” Fabian responds.

“Does that make me… Irene Adler?” Aelwyn muses from the bar before getting smacked in the shoulder by Sam.

“All of you shut up! As I was saying. I’ve come to an official conclusion based on the evidence which I guess I’ll go over now unless that’s too Sherlockian for you all. Kristen, can I have the box?”

Riz brings on stage the shoebox Kristen brought from the morgue. “The first major piece of evidence that made me think differently about the case is this, Gilear’s robe he was wearing when he took his tumble. If you’ll notice on the back, under all the blood and stuff, is this white stain.”

Hallariel shakes out a sob when confronted with the bloody garment and Riz honestly forgot normal people got upset at stuff like that so he hastily puts the robe back in the box before pulling out Gilear’s slippers. “These too had that same strange white stain on them, so I had Kristen run some analysis on it at the lab and we found that the substance was yogurt.”

Fabian breathes a loud sigh of relief while Fig snickers.

“What really brought the whole case together was something Adaine mentioned off-hand yesterday. Adaine do you remember that stain we couldn’t figure out on the top of the stairs?”

Adaine nods. “As a joke I said it looked like yogurt— oh my god.”

Riz nods, pacing across the room to stand more in front of Fabian, getting into the fanfare he’s creating. “Fabian, do you remember the metal sound you heard on that fateful morning?”

“Yeah it was weird.”

“Well I figured that out too. That’s the work of—” Riz points to the door as it swings open revealing…

Cathilda.

“OH MY GOD CATHILDA KILLED GILEAR?”

“NO!”

Cathilda holds up a metal spoon and small cup for the room to see. “Cathilda was kind enough to bring this to me. Hallariel, do you remember last christmas when you got Gilear a monogrammed reusable yogurt container and spoon set?”

Hallariel nods. “Gilear wanted to feel like he was making a difference, ecologically.”

Riz takes the container and spoon from Cathilda, scraping them together. Hallariel, Adaine, Aelwyn, and Fabian react the strongest but even Riz can’t avoid cringing from the sound. “Fabian is this the sound you heard on Sunday morning?”

“Yeah, god that’s awful stop it!”

Riz stops and sets the cup and spoon down. “When looking at all the evidence I had, plus the relationships Gilear fostered.” he nods at Gorthalax “Nobody murdered Gilear Faeth.”

A gasp echoes around the room.

“Gilear slipped on yogurt and fell to his death.”

Shock, despair, and disbelief echo around the room as it falls silent.

Suddenly, Fig busts out laughing. “I love Gilear and I am deeply sad that he’s dead but that’s truly the funniest way he could go I mean… slipping on yogurt? Out of his reusable yogurt container?”

Riz breathes a sigh of relief as Sandra Lynn snorts from her seat besides Hallariel, who begins laughing as well. Soon the whole room is up in laughter. A sort of sigh of relief after a stressful week and happiness at closure, however strange the closure may be.

The skies over Elmville may still be overcast and dreary, but today, Riz’s friends are relieved and happy in the work he’s done.

So maybe it’s a good day after all.

**Author's Note:**

> my wonderful artist for this event was Kay!! you can find all of their work over at @Spellslotz on twitter (and other platforms) and if you wanna yell at me for this fic or just in general you can find me @WhoopsItsGay


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